Chapter 42
CHAPTER
FORTY-TWO
LINDY
“Wes, it’s even more beautiful than when you first showed me your sketch and told me your idea. My man’s an artist.”
Wes made sure the bandage on my thigh was secure, and I lowered my long skirt down my legs over my boots. He had just completed the final coloring details on his thorny vine. The Hell Yes he’d finished a couple of weeks ago.
He cleaned up and organized his workstation. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
We said goodbye to everyone at the shop and got in Wes’s truck parked out front. He pulled out onto Clay. “Before we go to the Grand, I need to stop by Eagle Wings, got to pick something up.”
“Okay.”
“How’s the wedding dress coming along?”
“The way Lenore works is so inspiring to me. She’s very instinctual with fabric. She knows how it will fall over your body—if she just tucks it here or lets it out there, it changes everything. Every minute detail builds on the next. Her creating a piece on me and for me is the greatest gift. Oh hey, she mentioned something about Beck having found your suit?”
“He called me earlier. Said it’s perfect.”
“Dude, you got yourself a top-notch celebrity stylist for life, what luck.”
“I’m still not going to wear his boots.”
I laughed. “Violet said he’s hoping you would this time.”
“Butler has successfully waylaid Beck’s plans. He’s taking me shopping at Pepper’s tomorrow for a new pair of boots. A special gift from my other best man.”
“Ah!” I clapped my hands together. “Can’t beat that.”
He let out a laugh. “And I saw Jill this morning on Clay and she told me our rings are ready, and she’s making some final adjustments on your headpiece thingy.”
“Mmm.”
“Come on, you still don’t want to tell me about it?”
“Mmmhm.”
Jill had not only made our simple thin white-gold bands (thin so that our tats would be visible underneath them). She also insisted on creating a special headpiece for me. A silver plated wreath with crystals as a wedding gift, and it was incredible.
I also asked Jill to make a necklace for Wes that matched my angel, which I planned on giving him the night before our wedding.
My fingertips brushed Wes’s arm. “Today I showed Lenore photos of the house in Malibu that Violet sent me. She flipped out.”
“I flipped out when I saw those photos. I still can’t believe that’s happening.”
“It’s happening.”
Beck and Violet not only gave us the gift of our wedding photos, but our honeymoon too. They were flying us out to L.A. on a chartered plane and had rented a house for us on the beach in Malibu for three weeks, complete with a chef and a driver on call.
We’d hole up on our own at the beach house for the first week. But then the next two weeks, I would be working with Violet on a music video shoot, where I’d be assisting a makeup artist who she usually worked with. I’d been following this makeup artist on social media for years and was a huge fan of her work. This opportunity was beyond a dream come true.
“And Lenore set up an appointment for me to visit the cosmetics lab in L.A. to go over the latest samples and discuss a few other details. I can’t wait to learn up close how product development works. Is everything set with the shop in L.A.?”
“Ronny confirmed with me this morning.”
“I’m so excited for you, baby.”
“I’m excited for me. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a tattoo artist like Tommy LaCrosse.”
Ronny had hooked Wes up with a good friend of his, a fabled tattoo artist in Los Angeles. Wes was psyched to not only meet the legend but to learn everything he could by working for “The Cross” and his experienced staff at their landmark shop for two weeks.
“Lind, you sure you don’t want to go on a Caribbean cruise instead of a working honeymoon in Malibu?”
“Hell no. We’re going to be together in this amazing luxurious house on a beach on the Pacific, and we get to work our dream jobs and hang out with Beck and Violet in L.A.—which, by the way, will also include me and Violet shopping. Are you kidding me, Westley?”
“Just checking.” He laughed, taking my hand in his as the truck entered the small twisting road that led to the clubhouse. Within moments, we parked in front of Eagle Wings.
I checked my phone for the time. “Baby, don’t be too long. We’ve got people waiting on us at the Grand.”
“Why don’t you come in with me?”
“Why?”
He pressed his lips together, his gaze darted away. “Just…come with me.”
Something was up.
We got out of the truck as Lock and Trick tracked out of the bay, their chests puffed, grins on their faces. Lock and Wes embraced. “Good to see you guys. Hey, Lindy.”
“Hi, Lock. Hey, Tricky.”
All three men shared pointed looks and we-got-this alpha man chin lifts. I shifted my weight. “What’s going on?”
Lock let out a chuckle. “Follow me.” We followed him to the side of the shop, the new outdoor workshop, where a bike and a few vintage cars were being worked on under a series of canopies.
I stopped in my tracks, my heart bonging in my chest. “Oh my God. Are you serious?”
Lock’s hand rested on a car whose lines I’d recognize a zillion miles away. “Get over here, Lindy.” My baby, my mother’s precious 1974 Challenger, was being revived. Repaired and rejuvenated. New life, new era, the Eagle Wings way.
Tugging on my hand, Wes led me over to my car. “What do you think, Lind?”
“This is where my car’s been all this time? Which means my dad was in on this?”
Tricky grinned. “I went down to Nebraska and brought her up here. We cleaned her inside and out. She had some major rust issues that took us some time to deal with, and we still got some more work to do on her insides. Brand new custom-made cushioned seating is in the works, and her new engine should be here in a week. Soon enough, I’ll have her riding smooth as silk and wild as fire.”
“Oh, man…” My hands flew to my mouth, my eyes filled with water.
“After that, we got the detailing up,” said Lock. “This is your baby, Lindy, and it’s up to you to decide on the colors you want, choose the?—”
I burst into tears and grabbed Wes, smashing my face in his chest. His arms tightened around me. “Sweetheart?”
I wiped at my eyes, hiccuping in breaths. “This was my mom’s dream car, and my dad had gotten it for her as a birthday present, and she loved it. She always wanted to give the Challenger this kind of special treatment, but she never got the chance. When she became my car, it was such a thrill, but over the years she had so many issues—real expensive, complicated ones. It was endless as if she was slowly giving up, and I didn’t want her to. The guys at the club did what they could to keep her running, but …” I hiccuped another breath. “Then…then she crapped out on me the day Dad disappeared.”
“Oh, Lindy…” Lock shifted his weight, his hands on his hips.
“Now to see her like this, getting all the love and attention she deserves, is beyond. And to have Eagle Wings working on her?” Emotion overwhelmed me once more, and I launched myself at Lock. His arms flew around me. “Thank you so much. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Lindy.” Lock’s gleaming dark silvery gaze met mine, drilling into my chest. “And thank you for sharing that with us. Believe me, I understand how special she is to you. I really do.”
I believed him.
I went over to Tricky and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure, Lindy.”
“Thank you, everybody!” I shouted out to all the men working on the cars and bikes, and they all grinned back at me.
Tricky showed me the other cars and motorcycles the guys were currently working on. The racing stripes, the gloss, the variety of colors and tones, and the custom graphics were out of this world. I knew Wes had worked on a couple of these projects as he’d mentioned them to me.
Lock slung an arm around Wes’s neck. “Your man is our up-and-coming paint detailing specialist, so you tell him what you want for color and styling, and he’ll work his ass off to make it happen, won’t you, Wes?”
“Absolutely.” A smile slashed over Wes’s handsome face.
“All the sparkle I want?” I asked my man.
Wes took my hand in his. “All the sparkle and more.”